Blogs from Belize, Central America Caribbean - page 98

happy 4th of july! independence day....after being in central america for a month, the meaning of this has more depth for me now. i wish i was there to celebrate with you all. today i woke up feeling sad...my first bout of homesickness :( it has been a month since i've left home and i'm missing my friends and family and the conveniences of life in Philadelphia. right now i am in dangriga, belize....waiting for a boat to take me to tobacco caye. tobacco caye is rumored to have access to some beautiful coral reefs. unlike the reefs in caye caulker, the reefs here have been virtually untouched. there are not as many tourists and boats frequenting the smallers cayes. so i'm hoping to dive in tobacco caye and will probably skip caye caulker. it is ... read more

Intro to the Northern Cayes: Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye Belize's 180-mile-long barrier reef is the eastern edge of the limestone shelf that underlies most of the Mayan lands. The sea is very shallow west of the reef, usually not much more than 15 feet deep - which allows numerous islands called cayes (pronounced keys) to bask in warm waters. Of the dozens of cayes that dot the blue waters of the Caribbean off the Belizean coast, the two most popular with travelers are Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye. Caulker is commonly thought of as the low-budget island, where hotels and restaurants are less expensive than on resort-conscious Ambergris, though with Caulker's booming popularity its residents are fighting to keep the distinction. Water sports are the name of the game on both islands, especially on Ambergris. ... read more

I was going to give up this blog a few weeks ago - too much hassle. A friend convinced me otherwise, suggesting that I would regret it later if I didn't finish the job. The more I thought about it, the more I realised what a great souvenir this blog would be in months to come as the memories fade. I also got to thinking that I hadn't really tried to capture what is felt like to be travelling around for so long. As night fell on my first night in Belize, it struck me that the previous 36 hours had encapsulated much of what travelling has meant to me: meeting new people, doing new things, the thrill of leaving and arriving, along with quite a bit of sitting around and sorting stuff out. So, here ... read more

Bienvenido a Belize Picture it: the breeze is coming off the Caribbean, making the palm trees sway. You're on the beach, body tired from diving the Technicolor reef, swimming with manta rays and all sorts of exotic fish. In front of you, the water is crystal clear, turquoise like you've only seen in tourist posters. The air is filling with the smell of grilled lobster from the barbecue down the beach. Somewhere in the distance somebody puts on another reggae CD. Some locals walk past, chatting in the soft patter of Creole, recognizable but at the same time utterly foreign. Welcome to Belize. It's not all lying around soaking up rays, though - Belize is a small country, but packed with things to do. Out west there are caves to explore and rivers to raft. Down ... read more

We crossed the border into Belize and passed through Mexican and Belizean customs (interesting!) and it was clear, after boarding the bus, we were in an entirely different culture; no more 1st class buses, reggae blasting from the bus stereo and the people a mix of English, Mexican and Carribean. The climate is very lush compared with the dryness of Mexico and the houses reminded us of ´The Colour Purple´ and ´Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe´. Most of the houses are on wooden stilts as flooding used to be very common. We arrive in Belize city and befriend a Norwegian couple who travel with us to a local Chinese restaurant for some apres journey snacks (there are tons of Chinese take-outs here for some reason!). We manage to hitch a ride with the local ... read more